With the arrival of winter, we decided to head to the warmth of Thailand for a bit of sand and sun. (Click on any image to enlarge it)

With summer now behind us, we looked for activities to keep us out, about and busy whenever the weather allowed.

It’s been 5 years since the “Smith Boys” got together.So what better time to do this than to Celebrate a Birthday.

(with the Last of the Summer Wine riders)

We decided to treat ourselves to a week off, so we contacted a travel agent and booked a week in Tenerife through Tui Holidays.

With both of us now having the well-earned title of “Retired,” we have started our relatively itinerary free road trip to the South Island. We packed up the caravan on the 25th of February and headed south to catch the Bluebridge Ferry to Picton We disembarked the ferry at about 6.00 pm and travelled 25km … More South Island Road Trip 2021 (#1)

The home we built in Taupo has an old 40 sq meter double garage that was the original garage on the property prior to the section being subdivided for development.

This is a time to value family and friends to remember the fun we all had together over summer before we had to retreat into our individual bubbles.

December is the time to relax and get out into the sunshine and catch up with family and friends.

  With the weather warming up we started to get out and about.

Although there have been only a few really nice days so far this spring, we made the most of them and got out and about with family and friends who visited over the school holidays.

Weather-wise this winter has not been ideal for getting out and about, but we made the most of it.

We have had a number of fun family events over the past couple of months. Here are a few highlights.

We made the most of the fickle weather that arrived in May.

Here is a summary of what we got up to during April. 

We said goodbye to the new neighbours at the Belmont apartment. They had made us feel very welcome in the short time we were there.

This is a snapshot of how we spent the summer holidays this year.

What an amazing year. 

So this is what recovering from a brain injury is like. Looking from the outside it’s sitting in the sun with a coffee, a good book and an amazing vista from the cliff top over to Rangitoto Island.

We were invited by a lovely Dutch couple, who had been following us on our blog, to spend a few days in Utrecth in the Netherlands with them. This time in Utrecth was one of those connections you couldn’t plan.

Paris: What an interesting place. The first thing we noticed after the solitude of the Camino were the people. More precisely tourists, into which category we fitted.

We flew from Santiago de Compostela to Barcelona for four days after completing the Camino. This was a great time to rest after the previous three weeks in Portugal and Spain.

We thoroughly enjoyed the last few days coming into Santiago de Compostela.

We left Porto after a fabulous three days and headed northward towards Spain stopping in Esposende (65km) and tben Caminha (55km) and finally Valença (45km). Link to video clip at bottom of this post (5.06 minutes) or here if you can’t wait.

We left the very pleasant accommodation in Espinho called the ”why Not Guest House” heading to Porto, where we had planned to stay two nights. We made a slight change and decided to bike along the coast road. This gave us not only an extra day in Porto but a spectacular ride as well.

We have arrived in the town of Espinho. This is a beach resort town. Click the link to see our progress up the coast towards Porto.

We are continuing on our journey through the amazing landscape of Portugal.

We arrived in Lisbon and are making our way up towards Porto

What a way to finish off our time in England

19th December 1926 – 1st January 2018

The whole family gathered in Palmerston North to celebrate Christmas.  

Ann spent a few days in Dunedin visiting family with Cath & Jake. It was a good time for everyone celebrating Grandad Richards 97th Birthday

You never know the outcome of opening up your home and family to someone in need. We were amazed to read the attached article (NZ Listener 9th December 2017) where the accomplishments of Stan Tiatia were acknowledged. Stan came to live with us in 1985 (32 years ago) when he was studying for school certificate. … More Diamond in a paper bag